Daily Current Affairs

28-November-2023

1) In a first, COP28 to see health ministerial meet

Topic: GS2- Important institutions; GS3- Environment

Context:

• With the involvement of ministers from 65 nations, the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai is expected to create history by holding a health ministerial meeting.
• The conference’s much-anticipated December 3rd climate and health proclamation is one of its main features.
• Experts state that the declaration’s main goals are to promote greater health spending, reduce healthcare’s carbon impact, and strengthen the resilience of the health system.

Health Costs of Climate Change:

• Experts highlighted the costs of climate change on health, with air pollution being identified as a primary cause.
• By connecting air pollution and climate change caused by fossil fuels, they claim that moving away from fossil fuels might save a million lives a year in the next decades.
• The claim that the investment needed would be less than the current fossil fuel subsidies is presented as a cost-effective solution.

Global Impact of Air Pollution:

• Emphasizing the health consequences of air pollution at COP28, the WHO hopes to draw attention to the seven million deaths worldwide caused primarily by the combustion of fossil fuels.
• Experts draw attention to the connections between climate change, fossil fuel use, and conditions like diabetes, heart disease, lung cancer, and obstructive pulmonary disease.

Expanding Health Impacts of Climate Change:

• The topic of discussion goes beyond air pollution to include more general effects of climate change on health.
• It is anticipated that pre-existing medical issues may worsen, including illnesses brought on by the heat and infectious diseases transmitted by food, water, and vectors.
• Data from India shows that within the past 20 years, diseases like dengue have spread farther.
• According to WHO data, the number of heat-related mortality among people over 65 has increased globally by 70% during the previous 20 years.

Key Focus Areas of the Declaration:

Three crucial themes are anticipated to be the focus of the climate and health declaration at COP28:

• First and foremost, it seeks to create resilient health systems that can handle the problems and related illnesses brought on by climate change.
• Second, the statement emphasizes how important it is to lessen the carbon footprint of the healthcare system.
• Finally, it highlights how crucial it is to finance healthcare, pointing out how inadequate it is currently—less than 1% of multilateral climate finance is earmarked for health.

The statement presents health and the climate as related global action goals.

2) Rat-hole mining: risky practice being used in tunnel rescue

Topic: GS1- Mineral and Energy Resources, Environmental pollution and degradation

Context:

• A major obstacle faced in the rescue efforts of the forty-one workers trapped in the collapsed Silkyara-Barkot tunnel was the breaking of the drilling machine’s auger joint.
• Progress has been hampered for the last two days by rescuers painstakingly extracting a blade lodged inside the rescue pipes.
• But the machine drilling is being hindered by huge metal fragments, so the rescuers are digging through the leftover material using rat-hole mining techniques.

Understanding Rat-Hole Mining:

• Rat-hole mining is the process of removing coal from horizontal, thin seams by use of small, ground-level mines.
• The mines, which are just big enough for a person to walk down, lead to coal seams where pickaxes and shovels and other simple instruments are used for manual extraction.
• Rat-hole mining can be classified into two primary types:
  • box-cutting, which involves a rectangular entrance that leads to a vertical pit,
  • side-cutting, which involves digging small tunnels on hill slopes.

Concerns and Criticisms:

• Even though it’s being used in this rescue effort, rat-hole mining still presents serious environmental and safety risks.
• These mines, which are usually unregulated and devoid of safety precautions, can cause deforestation, water pollution, and land degradation.
• The technique has drawn criticism for its dangerous working conditions, harm to the environment, and multiple incidents that have left people injured or dead.

Ban on Rat-Hole Mining:

• Rat-hole mining has been banned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2014 due to safety and environmental issues.
• In order to explicitly address the widespread practice in Meghalaya, the prohibition was kept in place in 2015.
• But in 2019, the Supreme Court overturned the prohibition, permitting mining in Meghalaya on both community and private land as long as it complies with local regulations.
• The NGT fined the Meghalaya government Rs 300 crore for not stopping illicit coal mining, and the government was ordered to deposit the money.

3) How Napoleon’s Invasion Sparked Off the Modern Study of Egypt

Topic: GS1- World History, Important personalities

Context:

• Sensational but inaccurate is a sequence in Ridley Scott’s most recent movie that shows Napoleon ordering his soldiers to fire cannons upon the Giza pyramids.
• Comparably, historical evidence refutes the mythical tale of Napoleon’s army blowing off the nose of the Great Sphinx, indicating that the snout was chiseled off centuries before Napoleon’s reign.
• According to academics, Napoleon’s admiration for the pyramids and the Sphinx played a significant role in the development of Egyptology as we know it today.

Napoleon’s Campaign in Egypt:

• Napoleon’s 1798–1801, campaign in Egypt was driven by his desire to resist British influence as well as his colonial aspirations.
• The expedition sought to sabotage British communications with India and stop Ottoman Egypt from succumbing to British dominance.
• Notwithstanding initial triumphs, such as the conquest of Alexandria and Cairo, the French war failed because of a shortage of personnel and difficulties with the navy.
• Napoleon left the nation in 1799, and even though the French persisted for another two years, any plans he may have had for colonization were eventually dashed.

Napoleon’s Contribution to Egyptology:

• About 160 academics from a variety of professions traveled with Napoleon’s army to Egypt in order to add to the knowledge and record of the country.
• Renowned individuals such as Dominique Vivant Denon created major works such as “Travels in Lower and Upper Egypt” in 1802, based on their sketches and data collection of pharaonic sites.
• Published between 1809 and 1828, “The Description of Egypt” is a testament to French national pride and provides previously unpublished information about Egyptian monuments.

Powering Egyptomania:

• Napoleon’s voyage sparked a European fascination with Egypt known as
• Pharaonic monuments were documented by the army, which led to a boom in the market for Egyptian antiquities.
• Artifacts from important sites in Ancient Egypt were pilfered by French scholars, which fueled the antiquities industry.
• Egypt’s antiquities community is working hard to return stolen treasures to their rightful owners, yet there are still obstacles because of illegal and covert ways.

Legacy and Challenges:

• The historical narrative debunks myths while highlighting Napoleon’s unintentional contribution to Egyptology and the expedition’s long-lasting influence on European fascination with Egypt.
• Ongoing efforts to repatriate Egyptians and the strong demand for Egyptian antiquities, however, highlight the difficulties caused by Napoleon’s campaign’s legacy in Egypt.
• The complexities of recovering pilfered antiques are exacerbated by Egypt’s sociopolitical changes.

4) Kambala comes to Bengaluru: How buffalo race’s popularity outran bans

Topic: GS1- Culture

Context:

• Bengaluru held its inaugural Kambala race this past weekend, with 159 pairs of buffaloes and their jockeys competing on specially constructed slush tracks in the Palace Grounds of the city.
• The races drew a sizable audience of onlookers.

History and Supreme Court Ban:

• Coastal Karnataka is home to the folk sport known as Kambala, which was formerly banned by the Supreme Court.
• But the Karnataka government changed the law to allow these races to go on after realizing how popular they were.

Nature of Kambala:

• Kambala has long been practiced in coastal Karnataka districts, especially where the majority language is Tulu.
• Kambala activities, which were first arranged by families in muddy fields after paddy harvest, are now coordinated by different Kambala Samithis, or organizing bodies, and take place in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts from late November to early April.
• For coastal groups like the Bunt community, the races have cultural significance.

Race Categories and Significance:

Four categories are used for Kambala:

• Negilu (plough),
• Hagga (rope),
• Adda Halage (jockeys pulled by buffaloes on a horizontal board), and
• Kane Halage (wooden plank with water holes).

For families who train pairs of buffaloes all year long for these occasions, particularly those from the Bunt community, the competition is a matter of prestige.

Kambala’s Popularity and Pan-Karnataka Appeal:

• Although Kambala’s attraction has historically been centered on coastal Karnataka, its organizers in Bengaluru think that films such as “Kanthara” have given the event a broader appeal throughout the state.
• Teams were encouraged to participate in the Bengaluru Kambala by offering an incentive of Rs 50,000, as interest in the event grew.

Ban and Reversal:

• Concerns over animal mistreatment, such as tying buffaloes’ noses with ropes and continuously beating them during races, led to the ban on Kambala and other traditional athletic activities.
• Kambala was prohibited by the Supreme Court in 2014.
• But in 2016, the Environment Ministry released a statement permitting exceptions, and state governments changed the law to exempt events such as Kambala, if certain requirements were met in order to lessen animal suffering.
• In May of this year, these revisions made by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra were confirmed by a Constitutional Bench.

5) PM E-Bus Sewa

Topic: Schemes

Context:

• According to reports demand for e-buses to continue rising

Details

• An e-bus is any bus whose propulsion and accessory systems are powered exclusively by a zero-emissions electricity source.
• The adoption of electric mobility services will help reduce noise and air pollution in Indian cities and also curb carbon emissions.
• This scheme is also expected to bring in economies of scale for the production and maintenance of e-buses in India.

Highlights of the scheme

• E-bus Deployment and Urban Infrastructure: The scheme aims to add 10,000 e-buses to city bus services across the country. E-buses are those that rely exclusively on zero-emission electricity for their propulsion and accessory systems. The initiative also focuses on enhancing urban infrastructure, particularly in cities without organized bus services.
• Estimated Cost and Funding: The scheme’s estimated cost is ₹57,613 crore. The Central government will provide ₹20,000 crore, and the remaining funding will come from other sources. This financial support will facilitate bus operations for a period of 10 years.
• Implementation in Two Segments: The scheme will be implemented in two segments. In 169 cities, a public-private partnership (PPP) model will be utilized to deploy the 10,000 e-buses. In 181 other cities, the focus will be on upgrading infrastructure under green urban mobility initiatives.
• Infrastructure Development: For cities in the first segment, the scheme will include the development or upgrade of depot infrastructure to accommodate the new e-buses. This will also involve the creation of necessary power infrastructure like substations.
• Initiatives for Second Segment Cities: In cities falling under the second segment, the focus will be on initiatives such as improving bus priority, enhancing infrastructure, creating multimodal interchange facilities, implementing automated fare collection systems, and establishing charging infrastructure for e-buses.
• Coverage: The scheme will cover cities with a population of three lahks and above, including all the capital cities of Union Territories, as well as the northeastern and hill states.
• Job Creation: The scheme is expected to generate around 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs, contributing to employment opportunities in the urban mobility sector.
• Central and State Roles: States or cities will be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to bus operators. The Central government will offer subsidies as specified in the scheme to support these bus operations.
• Environmental Benefits: The adoption of electric mobility services like e-buses will lead to reduced noise and air pollution in Indian cities. Furthermore, the scheme’s focus on electric buses is expected to help mitigate carbon emissions and promote sustainable transportation.
• Economies of Scale: The scheme’s widespread adoption of electric buses is likely to result in economies of scale for the procurement of these buses through aggregation.

Overall, the PM e-bus Sewa scheme reflects the Indian government’s commitment to green mobility, urban infrastructure development, and reducing the environmental impact of public transportation.

6. EC stops Telangana farmer aid scheme.

Topic: GS 2- Indian Polity

Context:

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday withdrew permission for the Rythu Bandhu scheme of the Telangana government citing violation of the model code of conduct

Additional Information on the news:

• In its order, the poll body withdrew the permission citing violation of the same by State Finance Minister T. Harish Rao.
• Under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, financial assistance is directly transferred to each farmer’s account per season towards meeting the cost of inputs and other initial needs. 
• The Congress had fileda complaint with the EC last week seeking an order to stop the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from using Rythu Bandhu in their election campaign.
• On November 25, the EC allowed disbursement of Rabi season instalment under the scheme on certain conditions — no publicity should be made in this regard, no public function should be organised for disbursement, and no political functionary should be involved in the process of disbursement.

7. Right to privacy not eclipsed by marriage, says Karnataka HC

Topic:  GS 2- Indian polity

Context: A woman, owing to matrimonial dispute, had sought her husband’s Aadhaar data under RTI Act

Additional Information on the news:

• Relationship by marriage does not eclipse the right to privacy under the Aadhaar Act, and personal data of one of the spouses stored in Aadhaar cannot be disclosed at the instance of the other spouse without hearing the spouse whose information is sought, said the High Court of Karnataka.
• The marriage by itself does not do away with the procedural right of hearing conferred under Section 33 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits& Services) Act, 
• Therelationship by marriage, which is a union of two partners, does not eclipse the right to privacy, “which is protected by the procedure of hearing contemplated under the Act”, the court said

8. Monsoon mayhem in Shimla rings alarm bells, triggers calls for course correction

Topic: GS3- Disaster management

Context: Environmentalists in Himachal Pradesh’s capital, Shimla, have called for the implementation of urgent remedial measures after an expert committee set up by the State government recently released its report revealing the main reasons why the hill town suffered major damage during this year’s monsoon. 

Two concerns:

• Experts and officials said the report has drawn their attention to two critical issues, which need immediate attention and course correction. 
• The firstis the adverse impact of ‘construction overburden’ or accumulation of old debris on the fragile hill slopes, which is a result of unplanned and unregulated construction activities over the years. 
• The second is the unplanned open drainage system, which causes soil erosion and decreases the binding force of trees.

Way forward:

• Need for a policy that restricts construction of buildings to not more than one storey and an alternative to reinforced cement concrete (RCC) construction. The point is to build light structures, the weight of which these fragile slopes can hold.
• Need of the hour is a multidisciplinary and participatory exercise involving different governmentdepartments, NGOs, environmentalists, geologists and local residents to identify remedial measures.

9. Can dollarisation save an economy?

Topic: GS3- Monetary Policy

Context: Javier Milei, the recent winner of Argentina’s presidential election, has drawn attention for his unconventional policies, one of them being the plan to replace the country’s currency of peso with the dollar.

Why dollarisation?

• Dollarisation can act as a solution to hyperinflationby breaking the feedback link between rising prices and rising money supply. If the domestic currency is replaced by dollars, so the theory goes, money supply can no longer be controlled by vested political interests who can increase spending for political ends.
• Dollarisation can also have positive effectson  Since a small economy can only access dollars through foreign trade and/or capital inflows, it would incentivise the economy to focus on export successes and easing conditions for foreign capital, who would be more willing to invest in an economy with a stable currency. 
• The stable value of the dollar would ensure that economic agents —both foreign and domestic — would be able to make long­term plans regarding economic activity, plans that would otherwise not be possible under a currency that rapidly lost value. 

Some potential problems.

• The adoption of dollars as a currency implies that economies lose an important source of policy leverage, with monetary policy now unable to control money supply. 
• On the foreign trade front, countries would no longer be able to take recourse to depreciation to boost exports, focusing only on export promotion to stave off 
• Someproponents of dollarisation see this as a positive outcome, since it would ensure the government resorts to productivity boosting methods to combat recessions, instead of changing exchange rates.

10. Fibre optic cables: its origins, working and different functions

Topic: GS3- Science and Technology

Context: Along with quantum optics, fibre optic communication stands on the cusp of a new era. Ultra­thin fibres can carry information, such as text, images, videos, telephone calls, and anything that can be encoded as digital information, across large distances almost at the speed of light.

What is an optical fibre?

• Optical fibresare made of thin cylindrical strands of glass. The diameter of a typical fibre is close to the diameter of a human hair. These fibres can carry information, such as text, images, videos, telephone calls, and anything that can be encoded as digital information, across large distances almost at the speed of light. 
• Ultra­thin fibres seem very  But when manufactured correctly as a long thread surrounded by protectives, they serve the purpose in a durable way. 
• They are strong, light, and flexible,and ideal to be buried underground, drawn underwater, or bent around a spool. Almost 60 years ago, physicist Charles Kao suggested that glass fibres could be a superior medium for telecommunication, replacing the copper wires of the time. 

How do optical fibres work?

• Lightis an electromagnetic wave with a spectrum of  Visible light, X­rays, radio waves, and thermal radiation (heat) all lie on this spectrum. 
• Humans seethe world around us via sunlight, but it took us a long time to control and guide light through fibre optic cables — or “light pipes” — to send coded 
• Whena beam of light falls on a glass surface, it passes through partially while the rest is reflected  When it passes through, its path bends because the refractive index of glass is different from that of air. 
• Therefractive index is the property of a medium that determines how fast light can travel in it. When a beam travels in the reverse direction, that is from glass to air, it’s possible that it won’t enter the air. 
• Instead, it will be completely reflectedback within the glass. This phenomenon, known as total internal reflection, is the basis of guiding light across long distances without a significant loss of optical  
• With properadjustments, the light can be kept bouncing within the glass with very little escaping  This is how signals encoded as electromagnetic waves can be fed into one end of an optical fibre, and they will reflect and bounce many times between the glass walls as they traverse several kilometres bearing the information in the signals.

11. 6. As deaths due to work ¬related factors go up, ILO report urges countries to strengthen safety net

Topic: GS3- Employment

Context: Nearly 30 lakh workers die every year globally owing to work­related accidents and diseases, says a new report prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO). More than 63% of these deaths are reported from the Asia­Pacific region. 

More information on the news:

• Exposure to long working hours (55 hours or more per week) was the biggest “killer”, with almost 7.45 lakh people dying of it in 2016, followed by exposure to occupational particulate matter, gases, and fumes (4.5 lakh deaths) and occupational injuries (3.63 lakh deaths). 
• The report, “A Call for safer and healthier working environments”, will be discussed at the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, one of the largest international conferences on this subject, which began in Sydney on Monday. 
• The report said mining and quarrying, construction, and utilities sectors were the three most hazardous sectors globally.

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